Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The Men Who Are Destroying Life On Earth and What It Means For Our Children

The science is overwhelming; the facts are in. The planet is heating up at an alarming rate and evidence is everywhere. And although nearly two hundred countries signed on to the United Nations’ Paris Agreement, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, climate progress in the United States and around the globe is being blocked by the men who are profiting from the burning of the planet: energy moguls like the Koch brothers and former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson. Powerful politicians like Senators Mitch McConnell and Jim Inhofe receive massive contributions from the oil and coal industries. Most of these men are too intelligent to truly believe that climate change is not a crisis. And yet they have put their profit motives in front of the health and welfare of the world’s population—and even their own children and grandchildren.

How do they explain themselves to their offspring, to the next generations that must deal with the environmental havoc that these men have wreaked? Horsemen of the Apocalypse looks at this global crisis, literally bringing it home.

Reviews

“As the impacts of climate change grow increasingly visible in our daily lives, so must our understanding of the forces that are conspiring to stop actions to mitigate those impacts. This book lays bare how those forces, borne largely of self-interest, are trying to make sure the United States continues to add to global carbon pollution, the primary factor in climate change. With the new Trump administration trying to roll back president Obama’s actions, this is a timely and essential read for everyone concerned.” —MARGO OGE, author, Driving the Future: Combating Climate Change with Cleaner, Smarter Cars, and former director of the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality

“When in the near future the climate implodes and misery envelops the planet, you will know the criminals against humanity who were most directly and personally responsible.” —ROSS GELBSPAN, author, The Heat Is On and Boiling Point

“Dick Russell and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., have brilliantly laid bare the horsemen of the apocalypse and their cronies who are now steering the American ship of state and are bent on committing hara-kiri on the agreements, agencies, and regulations that are a bulwark against their own country’s and the world’s plunge into disaster.” —HOMERO ARIDJIS, Mexican poet, novelist, ambassador, and environmental activist; president emeritus of PEN International

“This may be the most important book yet on the climate crisis . . . and by the way, it’s fun to read. Dick Russell’s keen research and sharp writing unpacks the complex sordid tale of fossil fuel corporations and their henchmen, from the Koch brothers to Exxon to Peabody coal, who have systematically held us back from solving climate change, using denial, deception, and ruthless power.” —KERT DAVIES, director, Climate Investigations Center

“In Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Dick Russell lays out the lies and cover-ups of some of the men—including Exxon Mobil’s Rex Tillerson and the Koch brothers—who have been hell-bent on amassing fortunes by exploiting fossil fuels, even while knowing that this exploitation would likely destroy civilization.” —DAVID RAY GRIFFIN, author of Unprecedented: Can Civilization Survive the CO2 Crisis?

“Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a mind-opening exposé of the roots and branches of fossil fuel zealots, their campaigns of misinformation, and the rebellion of their descendants. It shows how the misuse of wealth and power can undermine democracy, threaten the health of the planet, and neglect our moral responsibility to future generations.” —SHELDON KRIMSKY, PhD, Lenore Stern Professor of Humanities & Social Sciences, adjunct professor of public health and community medicine, Tufts University, and author ofStem Cell Dialogues: A Philosophical and Scientific Inquiry into Medical Frontiers